Only one race-the human race.

One of the things that I love about standing up and talking about what you believe in when you're not actually a politician is that you don't have to stick to outdated and outmoded concepts of what serious conversation needs to be.

Those of you who have been following for a while may remember the first letter I had published in the Army Times about the war. It spoke to the dehumanization of the enemy, another subject that was spoken to so eloquently at Winter Soldier. That it doesn't matter what culture people come from, or whether they're brown or white or purple with polka dots-they are still people, and they deserve to be treated like human beings. It's one of the strongest things I find offensive about the "liberation" idealogy that some have-it's the White Man's Burden all over again. That the poor, ignorant natives were just waiting for us to come along, with our culture, and since it's better for us, it must be better for them. Now don't get me wrong-I love the ideal of America. That's a little bit different than loving American culture, but hey, we'll go with it. But even that doesn't mean that automatically the Middle East needs to be like us in order to have human rights. It doesn't mean that it's our job to tell others what human rights are.

For some of you, I may be about to lose my serious take on the subject with the following clip-I realize I'm exposing my geekiness for all to see. But some of you out there may be aware that there was a television series called Battlestar Galactica, and it dealt with a lot of very real issues about war, and human rights, and survival, and what justified torture. This show was so meaningful that it, and the actors from it, was invited to the United Nations to have a panel there. And there Edward James Olmos, who plays the Admiral on Battlestar Galactica, had an intense and very real and inspiring speech that I think sums up how I feel about race, and how we think about it.



So say we all, Eddie. So say we all.